Best V8 swap for a 1993 3.0/Auto/2WD?

[bobbywalter]

He said easy, but left the price tag open... so it's kind of hard to say for sure what would be the easiest.

I know little about the GM motors after the 5.7, so a few areas that I can think of that might be of concern for easiness or budget would be...

Getting the GM transmission to drive a cable driven speedometer
Radiator? I don't know if the hoses would hook up to a 4.0 radiator
Transmission shifter
Connecting fuel lines to the engine
Fuel regulator?
Power steering hose connections from the pump to the box
A/C hoses if he's keeping that
Motor mounts
headers
oil pan
transmission mount

Again, I know nothing about the later GM motors, so I have no idea how cheap or easy any of that stuff is... but I do know what is cheap and easy...

Grab a fuel injected 302, throw on some Mustang mounts, bolt on a transmission of choice, slice a couple slots in the crossmember for the mounts, splice about a dozen wires, rock a 4.0 radiator and call it a day.

The newer GM engines being better is not debatable, but being easier to install in a Ranger is.

this is fair. i have not directly swapped one in a ranger. but i put one in a jeep when they first came out and had to figure all the wiring out myself as the dealerships were useless and no one else was doing them at the time.


based on that, and the 350's and lt from later camaros i have swapped, its ignorant to put a 302 in from a vic over an ls. with what is available now i would call it a wash for the value they offer.


i know i can do a 302 quickly in a 94. depending on preperations and goals it can literally be a one day deal for a race truck. but i have done this allot. with the information today and support for the ls, it would take me much less time to swap an ls for the first time then the first time i did a 302 ranger 20 something years ago.

 

[bobbywalter]

Best V8 swap for a 1993 3.0/Auto/2WD?


that was the title



and the answer is simple. ls.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm ignorant

I was on a budget, and my $200 CV engine has made me happy, no regrets on engine choice here. So far I think I got exactly what I wanted; something that runs good, sounds good, looks good, is reliable and can get out of its own way. If I decide down the road I need more power, I have a roller block to play with that is just as good as a much more expensive later model Explorer or Mustang 5.0.

I didn't want either a drag truck or a hardcore offroader to tangle around trees... so I built neither.

 

[koda6966]

Best V8 swap for a 1993 3.0/Auto/2WD?
that was the title
and the answer is simple. ls.

Just curious as to what would make for the best V8 swap (as in easiest) in terms of which vehicle to get?

While I appreciate your input on this, I'm not interested in a 6.0/6.2 late model GM setup. Please stop arguing in my thread.

If I had infinite resources, time, and technical skills on my hand, yes I may have considered one, depending on the amount of info I could find on the swap. However both my resources and time are rather limited.

I didn't want either a drag truck or a hardcore offroader to tangle around trees... so I built neither.

Exactly what I am looking for. I just want more power than my 3.0 turd can dish out, with some cool factor bolted on.

 

[bobbywalter]

I'm ignorant

I was on a budget, and my $200 CV engine has made me happy, no regrets on engine choice here. So far I think I got exactly what I wanted; something that runs good, sounds good, looks good, is reliable and can get out of its own way. If I decide down the road I need more power, I have a roller block to play with that is just as good as a much more expensive later model Explorer or Mustang 5.0.

I didn't want either a drag truck or a hardcore offroader to tangle around trees... so I built neither.

you certainly are not ignorant.



v8....2wd....street.

all a crown vic motor will get most guys is laughed at. sure if you plan to pop the coin to build the power level you want...all it is is money...

but for minimum work...donor to recipient transpants, one will be pissed when a stock 4.0 ranger blows a ones doors off with a cool sounding v8, or a 4.3 s10 leaves you behind...especially from a 70-110 roll. cool sounding...slower then an oem offering sounds like a piss waste poser mobile to me...

the newest 302 is 10 years old. low mile 2500 dollar 300 hp ford swap setups are not the easiest thing to find.

power, economy, cost, and ease of fitment make the LS thing the best choice.

not who made it....just WHAT IT IS in itself. i wish LS had a ford oval on it and not a homo label....but, it does not...simply put the homo label has the best v8 at the moment to swap in a ranger..

i am not a gm guy.. but i try to be objective and spend my precious pennies wisely getting the best deal i can.

 

[koda6966]

not who made it....just WHAT IT IS in itself. i wish LS had a ford oval on it and not a homo label....but, it does not...simply put the homo label has the best v8 at the moment to swap in a ranger..

I would sig this if I didn't feel that it would make some people mad, haha.

 

[bobbywalter]

While I appreciate your input on this, I'm not interested in a 6.0/6.2 late model GM setup. Please stop arguing in my thread.

If I had infinite resources, time, and technical skills on my hand, yes I may have considered one, depending on the amount of info I could find on the swap. However both my resources and time are rather limited.



Exactly what I am looking for. I just want more power than my 3.0 turd can dish out, with some cool factor bolted on.

you really think you need signifantly more ability to do a ls over a 302?

the argument is you do not need infinite anything.... it is not any different in the end.

costs will be similar to a explorer swap in general assuming your buying a complete powertrain. time similar.

if you want to do a explorer then do it. a decent 4bbl setup will net plenty of fun. an 89 vic on the otherhand will not be steller...for the economy difference likely regrettable over the 3.0.



sorry for pissing up your thread.

i will offer this though. you drive your truck here and drop it off, i will do the swap for you.

dont get any easier then that.

 

[koda6966]

I'll read up on it I suppose, I want to research prettymuch any option.

Got any good places to start research? I searched on TRS and didn't find much. Just one guy mutilating his firewall to make it fit.

 

[koda6966]

I read through a couple pages of the LS1 Ranger thread. I'm not a chevy person, actually I despise chevy, but I don't down vehicles and call them crap until I drive them. Any manufacturer can have a bad vehicle (yes, even Ford, *ahem*windstar*ahem* can have them.) When I see a bunch of diehard Ford guys say it's the best engine ever made, my interest gets peaked.

If I find enough info on the swap I might swing that way.

What transmissions bolt up to the LS engine? I want something with an auto on the floor..

 

[koda6966]

Read through to the part where they're talking about not being able to fit a heater or AC, this is fine for me because I don't have AC stock and I typically only drive the Ranger in the summer. Sometimes it's chilly (Being in NY) though so a heater would be nice. I'll have to do some more research into that.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

but for minimum work...donor to recipient transpants, one will be pissed when a stock 4.0 ranger blows a ones doors off with a cool sounding v8, or a 4.3 s10 leaves you behind...especially from a 70-110 roll. cool sounding...slower then an oem offering sounds like a piss waste poser mobile to me...

I have been doing comparisons in the parking lot between my truck and the '94 Explorer parts runner. So far my testing has shown that a race between the two would make the '94 look like a one legged man in a buttkicking contest. With a 4bbl (I haven't used the secondaries yet) and headers I don't know how it compares to whatever weak tune it had with EFI, cast iron manifolds and huge restrictive cats and mufflers either. Factory stock it had better numbers than a OHV 4.0.

IMO a poser is somebody who builds their truck and is more worried about what others think of it than what they want to do with it. I built mine for what I needed the truck to do, what I described earlier. My 260hp F150 pulls my tractor around very well, and motivates pretty good when you drop the hammer, so I can't see how V8 that is just shy of 200hp is going to be a dog in a truck 1500lbs lighter with lower gearing.

Besides that, here in Chevy land no matter what I did to it, it would always will be a POS Ranger to just about everybody. If it had a LS3 it would be a POS Ranger that some idiot wasted a LS3 on... so quite honestly I haven't cared much what anyone around here thinks of it for quite some time anyway. 11 years of catching flack just for the emblem on my truck is probably a large reason why I don't like GM.

 

[bobbywalter]

whats the point of a 200 hp v8 in a 2wd if 300 hp is similar to accomplish and potentially at a reduced weight? you certainly have an exceptional engine from your description of its performance. normal is still 15-16 1/4 mile i seen too many 4.0 stock late models blow 4bbl granny donor 302's away to ever even consider one.


be lucky to make 200 hp with a vic motor if it were stock and sub 9 to 1 regardless of induction. an 89-91 would be that or better if its still fresh though with a good carb and d spark.



dont know the gearing on the sploder comparison.


but a 4.0 5 speed 2wd ranger and agressive driver is what would be a better lineup. sploders vary wildly on performance with gearing. crown vic/early bird donors are pretty stale these days where i am at

 

[5.0]

After reading this thread, I'm gonna haul my Crown Vic motors for scrap and buy something else.

 

[racing83x]

i just got mine out of a 85 F-150 and did a .30 over stock rebuild. i dont understand why everyone is gonna dog on people. you are putting a 302 in a ranger. thats custom. building a small block ford that is 200-375hp is just bolt ons. if you got a small block that is over 400hp and realiable(you can make more than one pass) congrats but the average person doesnt have 8 grand they can put into just the crank case and heads. my 302 is pullin 260 horse with the carter 2bbl so i wouldnt be raggin on people. just put the friggin thing together, enjoy the extra power, and add to it after that. i like in the biggest(200,000 people) city in south dakota. i dont know or have heard of anyone in a 100 sq. mile area of someone doing this swap. give the guy a break

 

[bobbywalter]

i am not dogging on anybody.

i am as serious about doing the swap for the guy as i was about the ls suggestion.

i have done many many swaps of various types and various vehicles...but especially with the ranger and my most common builds/assists are by far the venerable 302. mustang II /pinto/fairmonts....

it is because of this i suggest the 5.3/6.0 type gm powetrains. not because they would be easiest, just easiest to get max value.

pulling a stock crown vic engine that has the pistons it was born with these days and popping a 2bbl and cam in it and getting 260 hp out of it is something that would be an extreme exception.

i have spent my fair share of time at the dyno....its nearly laughable to expect that out of an e6 engine. a low mile 5.3 with a cam i would expect 340 hp from though.....290 or more at the wheels...one with a hot cam and i expect 330-340 to the wheels through a 4l60.

more importantly...i expect that and 17 mpg on the hiway.



if a guy wants a rannger with a v8....302...fine. a 400 pontiac....fine.....426 hemi...i will call him a dickhead and probably go kick his ass.....but after that...fine...

i am shining the light on an easy alternative...simple as that.

if i could build a 5.3 harness as efficiently as the 5.0 i would offer that up as well. eventually i probably will.

if a guy wants an emmisions legal v8 final production ranger the gm is the easy way out....but i would push a for a new 2011 ford 6.2 or 5.0 in that case...






one thing for sure


i dont think a 5.3 or 6.0-6.2 gm will outlive a ford 302 or 351.....

you cant get 250k out of a windsor.....you suck at taking care of shit.